सुत्त

Friday, November 30, 2012

River Flow–“old age and suffering“”

There’s nothing wrong with the way the body grows old and gets sick. It just follows its nature. So it’s not the body that causes us suffering, but our own wrong thinking. When we see the right wrongly, there’s bound to be confusion. It’s like the water of a river. It naturally flows downhill. It never flows uphill. That’s its nature. If we were to go and stand on the bank of a river, and seeing the water flowing swiftly down its course, foolishly want it to flow back uphill, we would suffer. We would suffer because of our wrong view, our thinking “against the stream.” If we had right view, we would see that the water must flow downhill. Until we realize and accept this fact, we will always be agitated and never find peace of mind. The river that must flow downhill is like our body. It passes through youth, old age and finally dies. Don’t let us go wishing it were otherwise. It’s not something we have the power to remedy. Don’t go against the stream! ~A Tree in a Forest - A Collection of Ajahn Chah's Similes ~

Do not believe in anything (simply)because you have heard it.Do not believe in traditions because theyhave been handed down for many generations.Do not believe in anything because it isspoken and rumoured by many.Do not believe in anything (simply)becauseit is found in your religious books.Do not believe in anything merelely on the authorityof your teachers & elders.But after observations & analysis,when you find anything that agrees with reasonand is conducive to the good & benefit of one & allthen accept it & live upto it . Buddha ( Angutra Nikaya , vol 1, 188-193 )